Snow tire recommendations?

"McLarry" (McLarry) 02/25/2015 at 18:18 • Filed to: None

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Hey folks, here's the deal: my wife drives an e46 330xi which has thus far performed admirably enough in the snow with all-season tires (because AWD is snowy-time magic, I'm sure you're familiar), but those all-seasons are getting rather worn. My wife recently had a low-speed incident with a stop sign which is no longer with us...minimal damage otherwise, but perhaps with the exception of my wife's self-confidence. Her car will need new tires soon anyway, I'm thinking we're still enough into winter to make it a set of snow tires. We've also recently moved to a rather backwoods and hilly area of PA, so there's more snow, more hills, and more turns to be dealt with, so I don't think a good set of snow tires would go amiss here. She's also a Dr and can't exactly call out of work when it snows, so I'd feel better knowing she's on good hardware. Thing is, I've never bought snow tires...don't know what to expect to pay, don't know which are better than others, don't know if I should get a spare set of wheels or get the rims swapped over every season. Might snow tires be cheaper now since it's the end of the year, or would it be better to try and wait it out and buy during summer? Any and all recommendations would be most welcome.

As payment I offer a dog driving a car while wearing sunglasses:

bob and john > McLarry 02/25/2015 at 18:21

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marangoni 4 ice e+.

we have them on my dads A3 TDI. AWESOME tires. a bit loud on the road, but grip and grip and grip. and they last a lot too. we have had ours for almost 5 years now. might get replaced this year.

dogisbadob > McLarry 02/25/2015 at 18:22

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This is why I look forward to self-driving cars, so we can put more animals or dolls or stuffed animals in the drivers seat

Manuél Ferrari > McLarry 02/25/2015 at 18:23

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michelin pilot sport cup 2

i keed

i live in So Cal so i know less about driving in the snow than that dog does

TexMex > McLarry 02/25/2015 at 18:28

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General Altimax Arctics all the way. They kept my rear-wheel-drive deathtrap out of trouble all last winter, and they're studdable too.

thedevilinside > McLarry 02/25/2015 at 18:30

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I had Hankook iPikes. They were great. I don't know what kind of sizes are available, might be a case of get another set of wheels. Another set of wheels is the way to go anyway. The iPikes were a good value too.

McLarry > Manuél Ferrari 02/25/2015 at 18:32

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Hey I said any and all recommendations, so I guess this is what I get :P

vondon302 > McLarry 02/25/2015 at 18:33

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I got Blizzaks on my focus st and it got me to work on michigan's highest one day snow fall. 36 miles! 16 in it was a plow. I also got some cheap champiro' s on my p71 which are a good bang for the buck But I don't think you want those on your e46. The Blizzak is pretty decent in the dry too.

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > McLarry 02/25/2015 at 18:35

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Look into some Nokian WR series tires... they're "4 season" tires that have winter performance that beats many cheaper winter tires.

dogisbadob > McLarry 02/25/2015 at 18:37

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Most of the online tire sites offer free mounting/balance when buy the wheels and tires at the same time.

My recommendations would be either the Falken Eurowinter HS439, or the Dunlop Winter Maxx.

The Falken is a performance winter tire, better handling than normal winter tires but a bit less snow/ice traction (but still better than all-seasons). The Dunlop is a regular snow tire, better snow and ice traction but not as good handling in the dry.

Manuél Ferrari > McLarry 02/25/2015 at 18:38

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Haha. Just trying to add some chuckles.

My uneducated vote goes for getting spare rims with snow tires now. Seems like the safest and most convenient thing to do long term.

BobintheMtns > McLarry 02/25/2015 at 18:46

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Like many, I've had and liked the blizzaks. But the best winter tire I've ever had, were Toyo Garits. They grind walnut shells up and mix them into the rubber compound... it's bizarre how well they work... Multiple, multiple times I've gone into a snowy/icy diminishing radius curve at high speeds while not paying attention, realized what I'd done and was already bracing to fly off the cliff, and like magic the tires would grip likes it's summer time.......

Kailand09 > McLarry 02/25/2015 at 19:01

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I have el cheapo Champiro ice pro (gt?) I think. For the price, they actually performed pretty well. Add in AWD and you should be extra OK.

They aren't 100% designed for winter performance, so they are good on the days when there's no snow or ice either. Here in the Midwest, I like that since the weather can get to 40 and dry some days, when snow tires don't do well.

Biggus Dickus (RevsBro) > Manwich - now Keto-Friendly 02/25/2015 at 19:15

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Nokian are the best winter tire no one has ever heard of. I run Vatiivas on my jeep as a year round tire. Some road noise but not bad considered the great off road and snow capability.

BigBlock440 > McLarry 02/25/2015 at 20:06

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It's supposed to warm up soon, so if they'll be your only set get something different. If they're going to be dedicated winters that you'll swap out in a month, probably any snow tire is better than what you've got on there now.

Agrajag > McLarry 02/25/2015 at 22:22

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There is no better winter tire than those manufactured by Nokian. The Hakkapeliitta R2 is what I went with and they've served me well so far. I got mine through discount tire direct. They do free mounting/balancing and deliver if you purchase a complete set of wheels and tires, and were considerably cheaper than my local tire shops.

I am also in a hilly area of PA.

Old-Busted-Hotness > McLarry 02/26/2015 at 07:46

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I'm a big fan of Blizzaks. They keep my Challenger planted even in the snowpocalypse we're enduring, and not terribly noisy on the freeway. Definitely get some cheap steelies to mount them on. That way you're not tearing up the rim edge on your alloys twice a year, and the mount/balance fees will pay for the steelies after a couple years.

Another thing to consider, many shops won't mount used tires "because of our insurance."

Tire Rack will hook you up with Blizzaks, steelies and lugs for a good price.

You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much > McLarry 02/26/2015 at 14:10

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We get 200"+ of snow per winter where I live. Firestone Winterforce tires are awesome in deep snow. We have Blizzak WS70 's on my wifes Escape and they have been excellent through the last couple of winter also. We went with the WS70's because we could get a cheaper tire/wheel combo than we could with the Firestones. I run Dunlop Wintersport 3D's on my STI and they have been an awesome winter tire too.

For performance in deep snow I would rank them:
Winterforce > WS70's > Wintersport 3D's

For hard packed snow they are all pretty close and on dry roads the order is reversed.

I would recommend getting a spare set of wheels to mount the winter tires on. This makes it an easy job to do yourself and saves you some money since you don't need to go to the tire shop every change of season to get tires mounted and balanced. Plus it saves a little wear and tear on the wheels. Mostly it gives you the option of being able to put on the winter tires at home so you can do it at a moments notice if you need to.

Paperclip1 > McLarry 05/06/2015 at 15:57

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I just came here to comment on that BEAUTIFUL Aussie!

McLarry > Paperclip1 05/06/2015 at 16:33

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Yes! Even without the car and sunglasses. My sister and brother-in-law have one (not that one...pretty sure they don’t let her drive :P) and she’s super sweet.